1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to production of synthetic hydrocarbon liquid fuel and, more particularly, to the production of such fuels by pyrolysis of latex-rich plants.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Over the last 100 years, we have converted from wood, a renewable source of energy to coal and then to oil and gas, non-renewable sources of energy. Recently, oil and gas have periodically been in short supply and the cost has been steadily increasing. Both petroleum and natural gas have begun to decrease as a fraction of total use with nuclear power rising slowly and hydropower and geothermal power rising even more slowly. The cost of finding new fossil fuel is increasing, while the number of discoveries are declining. Energy costs will irrevocably rise with the gradual depletion of these stored products of ancient photosynthesis. The only direction that fossil fuel prices can go is up. In the United States nearly all the hydropower available is already in use and geothermal energy while being intensively developed is, mainly available only in the western United States and will only supply a small percentage of local needs. Nuclear energy could supply up to 20% of energy needs but development is being hampered by environmental and political concerns.
The principal, available renewable source of energy is the sun. The amount of solar energy falling on the earth's surface in just 10 days is equivalent to all known fossil fuel reserves on earth. Millions of years ago, just as they do now, green plants converted about 1% of the sunshine that fell on them into carbohydrates. Perhaps 1% of the plant materials grown back then were converted into coal, oil, or natural gas, a net yield of something like 0.01%. The same sun still shines. And although there are a lot more people now and they use--particularly in the United States--a lot more energy than they used to, the present average energy demand per person can be met with 10% recovery of the sun falling on an area 3 yards square between latitudes 40.degree. N. and 40.degree. S. This is where 80% of the world's population lives and where the greatest needs are found.
There are several different ways of utilizing solar radiation. The radiation can be collected as heat and utilized in heat engines, air conditioning, wind mills, wave engines, etc. New heat collection systems which utilize absorbers or concentrators such as mirrors, lenses or reflectors are useful but not very efficient.
Photosynthesis directly converts visible light into chemical bonds with useful energy from 50-90 kcal/mol. The principal product of most green plants is carbohydrate. For many years research has been carried out seeking to produce combustible synthetic liquid fuels from forest products and field plants. Though good yields of complex, corrosive "pyrolysis oils" suitable for fuels have been obtained, these efforts have not been successful in terms of producing transportable, storable high-BTU liquid fuels.